Baseball mitt or glove

ABSTRACT

A baseball mitt or glove including a construction in which control over the position of the glove is enhanced by allowing a finger of the wearer of the glove to be exposed outside of the back of the glove body, without preventing the player from positioning the finger inside the glove when found desirable.

United States Patent Paul F. Colllns Creve Coeur, Mo.

lieu. 19, 1969 Sept. 7, 1.971

A-T-O Inc.

St. Louis, Mo.

Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 777,737, Nov. 21, 1968, now abandoned.

Inventor Appl No. Filed Patented Assignee BASEBALL MITT OR GLOVE 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 2/19 1nt.-Cl I A4111 13/10 Field of Search 2/16, 18,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,354,241 9/1920 Carmean 2/158 1,435,478 1/1922 Kennedy 2/19 2,274,335 2/1942 Kennedy 2/158 2,434,171 1/1948 Latina 2/19 2,778,023 l/l957 Tompkins... 2/19 3,098,237 7/1963 Slimovitz 2/158 X 3,141,173 7/1964 Jacksou et al. 2/19 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-George V. Larkin Att0meyGravely, Lieder & Woodruff ABSTRACT: A baseball mitt or glove including a construction in which control over the position of the glove is enhanced by allowing a finger of the wearer of the glove to be exposed outside of the back of the glove body, without preventing the player from positioning the finger inside the glove when found desirable.

BASEBALL MITT R GLOVE This application is a Continuation of Ser. No. 777,737, filed l l /2 H68 now abandoned.

This invention relates to improvements in baseball mitts and gloves and is particularly concerned with a construction that allows improved control over the action of the glove in catching a ball.

The improved baseball mitt or glove incorporates an opening in the back thereof so that communication is established between the normal hand-receiving pocket in the glove body and the outside of the back of the body, whereby a player is enabled to place a finger through the opening to the outside of the back of the glove when desired.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a glove construction which will allow the player to obtain additional plies of material as cushioning when catching a baseball; to provide a means for allowing a player to place the index finger, which is most frequently in the ball catching area of the glove, outside of the back of the glove body so as to make use of the cushioning effect of the air in the interior of the glove, in addition to the normal padding; and to provide greater control over the ball-catching action of the glove by allowing a finger to be placed at the outside.

The invention resides in the components and parts thereof hereinafter to be described and claimed with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the back of a baseball mitt or glove showing the improved opening in the body thereof so as to permit the exterior positioning FIG. I is a perspective view of the back of a baseball mitt or glove showing the improved opening in the body thereof so as to permit the exterior positioning of the index finger of the player using the same;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary and greatly enlarged sectional view taken at line 2-2 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of a modified construction for a baseball mitt or glove.

Referring to the drawings, a glove body is shown at G and is formed with a hand-receiving opening 10, having a thumb section 11 and respective finger sections l2, 13, 14 and 15 communicating therewith. The space between the thumb section 11 and the index finger section 12 is occupied by a backstop device 16. This glove construction is more particularly shown and described in the application of Roland Latina, Ser. No. 671,796 filed Sept. 29, 1967, now abandoned.

While the important feature of the present invention is not limited to the character of glove shown in the above-mentioned prior patent application, in its essence it consists in providing an opening 17 in the back of the glove body G, said opening communicating between the outside and the interior hand-receiving pocket 18 as shown in FIG. 2. The opening is preferably formed by cutting slits through the back ply 19 of the glove body as well as the interior back lining 20 for the back ply. Such slits are formed in general alignment with the index finger section 12 as seen in FIG. 1 so that it will allow a natural positioning of the index finger either in the pocket 18 or on the outside of the back ply 19. As is shown in the views of the drawings, the index finger is shown in phantom at F so that the usage of the opening 17 will be fully appreciated. In addition, FIG. 2 shows a palm lining ply 21 spaced from the back lining ply 20, which with a palm ply 22 encloses padding 23.

The opening 17 is finished so as to prevent tearing, or the development of rough edges which could cause blisters, by means of a binding lacing 24 which is successively laced through apertures 25 about the respective margin of the opening 17. As is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the binding lacing 24 is made considerably wider than the diameter of the apertures 25 so that it can be spread out and form a Florentine-type lacing which provides a complete finished margin for the opening 17. The back lining ply 20 constitutes part of an overall glove lining which has finger stalls aligning with and leading up to the individual finger sections 12, 13, 14 and 15. The finger stalls form part of the hand receiving pocket 18 and receives the individual fingers of the user's hand. Indeed, the finger stalls of the lining generally locate the user's hand in a predetermined position within the hand receiving pocket 18. The finger opening 17 aligns with the finger stall which extends up to the index finger section 12.

In FIG. 3 there is shown a modified construction in which the back plies of the glove body G are slit to form an opening 170 which communicates with the interior hand receiving pocket 18, as seen in FIG. 2 for example. The edges of the plies are covered by a binding strip 26 which is secured in the usual way by stitching 27. Thus, the binding protects the players finger from roughness that might result from forming the opening 17a.

The construction above described is an improvement in a glove body which is characterized by an outer shell having a back ply, an inner lining having a lining ply adjacent the back ply and padded plies in the ball catching area of the body. The improvement in its broad aspect resides in the forming of registered or aligned openings in the back and inner lining plies of the glove body, and making the opening elongated transversely of length of a finger to allow the easy projection of the finger outwardly so as to lie on the outside of the back ply behind the ball catching area of the glove body. Finishing means of FIGS. 2 or 3 may be used to cover the cut edges of the openings in both plies.

I claim:

I. A ball glove comprising a shell having palm and back plies provided with detached margins which define a hand receiving opening leading into and providing access to a hand receiving pocket enclosed between the plies, the plies being joined except at said hand receiving opening to provide a thumb section and a plurality of finger sections in the shell, the back ply having a finger opening located therein intermediate the hand-receiving opening and the inner end of one of the finger sections, the finger opening providing an exit from the hand-receiving pocket to the exterior of the shell and being sized and located to receive only one of the fingers on the users hand, whereby the one finger of the users hand may be extended from the hand receiving pocket and positioned against the outwardly presented surface of the back ply.

2. A glove according to claim 1 wherein one of the finger sections aligns with the index finger of the users hand when the users hand is in the hand-receiving pocket, and wherein said finger opening is located in alignment with the user's index finger.

3. A glove according to claim 1 and further characterized by a lining positioned against the inwardly presented surfaces of the back and palm plies; and wherein the lining has an opening which marginally registers with said finger opening in the back ply, the back ply and the lining being attached to each other along the registered margins of their respective finger openings.

4. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the finger opening is a slot, the major dimension of which is transverse to the axis of the finger section with which the slot aligns.

5. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the finger opening is positioned in the vicinity of the inner end of the user's index finger when the users hand is in the hand receiving pocket.

6. A ball glove comprising a shell having thumb and finger sections and palm and back plies which extend along the thumb and finger sections as well as rearwardly therefrom, the palm and back plies beyond the inner ends of the finger sections terminating at detached margins which form a handreceiving opening leading into the interior of the glove, a lining in the shell and forming a hand-receiving pocket, access to which is gained through the hand-receiving opening, the handreceiving pocket including finger stalls which are fonned in the lining and open toward the hand-receiving opening for receiving the fingers of the users hand and for generally locating the users hand and fingers in a predetermined position in the glove, the back ply of the shell being provided with a finger user, to project through the finger opening from the handreceiving pocket and extend along the external surface of the back ply when the users hand is located in the predetermined position within the hand-receiving pocket. 

1. A ball glove comprising a shell having palm and back plies provided with detached margins which define a hand receiving opening leading into and providing access to a hand receiving pocket enclosed between the plies, the plies being joined except at said hand receiving opening to provide a thumb section and a plurality of finger sections in the shell, the back ply having a finger opening located therein intermediate the hand-receiving opening and the inner end of one of the finger sections, the finger opening providing an exit from the hand-receiving pocket to the exterior of the shell and being sized and located to receive only one of the fingers on the user''s hand, whereby the one finger of the user''s hand may be extended from the hand receiving pocket and positioned against the outwardly presented surface of the back ply.
 2. A glove according to claim 1 wherein one of the finger sections aligns with the index finger of the user''s hand when the user''s hand is in the hand-receiving pocket, and wherein said finger opening is located in alignment with the user''s index finger.
 3. A glove according to claim 1 and further characterized by a lining positioned against the inwardly presented surfaces of the back and palm plies; and wherein the lining has an opening which marginally registers with said finger opening in the back ply, the back ply and the lining beIng attached to each other along the registered margins of their respective finger openings.
 4. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the finger opening is a slot, the major dimension of which is transverse to the axis of the finger section with which the slot aligns.
 5. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the finger opening is positioned in the vicinity of the inner end of the user''s index finger when the user''s hand is in the hand receiving pocket.
 6. A ball glove comprising a shell having thumb and finger sections and palm and back plies which extend along the thumb and finger sections as well as rearwardly therefrom, the palm and back plies beyond the inner ends of the finger sections terminating at detached margins which form a hand-receiving opening leading into the interior of the glove, a lining in the shell and forming a hand-receiving pocket, access to which is gained through the hand-receiving opening, the hand-receiving pocket including finger stalls which are formed in the lining and open toward the hand-receiving opening for receiving the fingers of the user''s hand and for generally locating the user''s hand and fingers in a predetermined position in the glove, the back ply of the shell being provided with a finger opening sized to comfortably accommodate only one finger on the user''s hand and aligned with the lining finger stall which receives that one finger, the finger opening providing an exit from the hand-receiving pocket to the exterior of the shell and being spaced from the detached margin of the back ply a sufficient distance to enable the one finger, at the option of the user, to project through the finger opening from the hand-receiving pocket and extend along the external surface of the back ply when the user''s hand is located in the predetermined position within the hand-receiving pocket. 